motherhood where sleep is a rumor and laundry
is eternal and somehow we're supposed to be raising
tiny humans through it all we're here to laugh
at the chaos cry when necessary and remind you
that none of us actually know what we're doing
this is no manual a mom cast your mom friend
group chat but with microphones Welcome back
to No Manual MomCast. Hey everyone, welcome back
to No Manual MomCast. We are excited you're tuning
in today and just excited to chat about the holidays.
Yeah, this is our first time recording in the
new year. So if any episodes you've listened
to this year, we recorded before Christmas. And
as we were like texting back and forth over like
kind of our Christmas break, we were like, I
feel like We should just share our insanity because
your Christmas was much crazier than ours was.
I can't wait to tell everybody. Yeah, I think
anyone with little kids will have just like relatable
stories. I think the theme is like overstimulation
for everybody. For sure. Yeah. But before we
hop in, should we talk about our mom moments?
Yeah, I can go first. Okay. So. This week, we're
back into our normal swing of things, back to
work, back to all of our normal routines. And
so, of course, Thursday is my day, my long day.
Stuart's gone in the evening. And I always have
either pickup dinner from Chick -fil -A, McDonald's,
whatever, or get something from Costco that I
can just throw in the oven with zero prep, very
little cleanup. And so Costco had a lobster mac
and cheese this week. So I was like, ooh, let's
give that a try. Review, not worth it. It was
fine. that it was just fine i mean to be fair
the last time i had lobster mac and cheese was
in boston so it's a little bit it's a little
different yeah the comparison wasn't great but
yeah so review on that it was fine nothing to
write home about anyways we're like sitting there
i'm there with the two kids by myself and i realize
i don't know if lloyd's ever had shellfish i
mean both kids have had shrimp but i is that
not considered shellfish i don't know if it's
considered shellfish or not yeah but i'm just
sitting there thinking neither of the kids have
ever had lobster before yeah and what if this
is the moment when i find out that one of them
has like a deathly allergy yeah like what do
i do right and i just like start spiraling in
my head sitting at dinner for probably like five
to ten minutes like okay like watching watching
them both like are you breathing yeah like what's
gonna happen and then thinking through like okay
obviously like if something happens if you call
9 -1 -1 yeah would they they would have to let
me take my other small child if there's no other
adults around they have to let me take my other
small child but like i can't stay home right
yeah we do know our neighbors but none of them
on like a level of i mean I'm sure any of them,
if I was like, hey, emergency, they would be
fine. Yeah. But like, we don't know any of our
neighbors really well. Parents live close, but
not close enough. Not in like a closing of the
throat situation. Right. It would be like, my
parents could be here in 10 minutes. And then
even, I like really spiraled. Yeah. I can see
that there's a lot of thought going in your mind.
I shouldn't have been alone for this. So my dad.
He volunteers with the police in our town sometimes.
And so I was like, literally to the point where
I was like, he does ride -alongs. If I'm lucky,
if I called 911, Papa would be on a ride -along.
He would hear our address. He would go. I don't
know how he'd control this. Obviously, he doesn't
have control over this. And then I could take
both kids. And then he can take, yeah, he can
stay with whichever kid is healthy. Spoiler,
neither of our kids have a shellfish allergy,
or at least. Not that you saw. They both ate
the mac and cheese. Everyone was healthy. Everyone's
alive. No 911 had to be called. But yeah, I was
just like sitting there. Absolutely. Like all
these intrusive thoughts thinking of like the
worst case scenario. We have no reason to think
either if the kids have any food allergies thus
far. But of course, that's where your mind went.
When you said like, oh, I got lobster mac and
cheese. In my head, I was like. allergy yeah
i was like that's a high allergy yeah i'm like
totally i don't know and i think like i've been
sick this week and so there's just like all of
the things were heightened and uh but yeah so
i just spent like five ten minutes and then finally
like again everyone ate dinner everyone was fine
everyone went to bed no one died yeah no one
went to the emergency room uh but just those
really fun intrusive thoughts that no one prepares
you for for sure Oh, my gosh. And the spiral
is just so real. Because then when you're with
someone, like if Stuart was there, he'd be like,
yeah. All right. Let's just watch them. They're
fine. Yeah. We'll figure it out if it happens.
Cruz just tried eggs for the first time because
actually that goes into my mom moment. Cruz still
hates all food. Except for steak. Except for
steak, which like we don't have steak very often
because steak is really expensive. You can't
afford steak every night? No. Gosh, I wish. Like
it's delicious. Great. But like the very rare
food that Cruz likes is steak. He like – last
night he like kind of tried cottage cheese, like
a few little bites of cottage cheese. But he
– we did eggs yesterday and I like had to – Literally,
I had to force it into his mouth. And I was like,
you're going to try this because I need to know
if you're allergic. But that's the only allergen
we've tried with him so far. And he's nine months
old. And at this point with Colt, Colt had tried
so much. He was enjoying food, which I'm surprised.
This is such a stereotype. But Cruz is a big
boy. And so in my head, I just assumed, oh, he's
going to love food. Of course, that's my stereotype
in my head, big boy. gonna love food but nope
he hates it he just likes mama's milk which i'm
like all right that's fine but also you do need
to eat food eventually you need yes like we are
coming up on a year pretty soon where i'm like
oh food is actually like a crucial part of your
nutrition yeah and so i'm like i just i don't
know if any mom's listening if you've gone through
this like if you have any advice i don't know
what to do because i'm like he He literally,
like, I'm not even kidding. I don't know if this
is him trying to fake me out. He'll, like, take
the food and he'll, like, pretend to take a bite.
And then he, like, puts it down. And I'm like,
does he think he put it in his mouth? Yeah, I
don't know. And he didn't? But he's just, like,
pretending. I mean, there's definitely times
when Zeta, like, just straight up misses her
mouth. Yeah. But he, like, will, like, put it,
like, really close to his mouth and then just,
like. Change his mind. Yeah. And then he's like
kind of pretending to chew. And I'm like, do
you think that you're eating right now? Maybe.
I don't know. Maybe he has a depth perception
issue. Maybe he needs glasses. I have no idea,
but I don't know what to do because I'm like,
we've done all the like, I'll let him hold the
spoon. I hold the spoon. I put it just on his
high chair. Let him just play in it and hope
that he like tries stuff. Most of it just. He
just grabs it and he just throws it on the ground.
That's crazy. And, like, he just has zero interest.
I mean, Zeta's throwing her food on the ground,
but different. Yeah. And, like, this is just
totally opposite of what it was with Colt. Like,
Colt was just. Would try everything. Would try
everything. He didn't like everything, but he
would absolutely try it. And it's. I just, yeah,
I'm like at a loss of what to do. So I'm like,
we have his nine month appointment at the pediatrician
in like a week and a half. And I'm like, this
is going to be the topic of conversation. How
do we feed my child? Yeah. Yeah. And I'm like,
I'm just, he hates, hates pouches. Like, I'm
like, is he a texture guy? He's like pretty much
all fruit. He like tried a strawberry. Those
are kind of the guarantees for little kids. You're
like, a pouch or berries. Yes. They always eat
those. Yeah, but he will put it in his mouth
and he just like, and then tries to spit it out.
So I'm confused. Yeah. I have no advice for you.
I'm so sorry. Thank you. So helpful. I have no
advice for myself either. I have no idea what
to do. So any advice is welcome from anyone.
Yeah. Um, okay. Well, let's just hop into how
was, how are your holidays? We actually had a
really good Christmas. It was, it was really
crazy. And there was like, by the time we got
to the end of like Christmas week, we were really
glad it was over. Like not that Christmas was
over, but that all of this stuff was over. Yeah.
If that makes sense. Like, so for the week of
Christmas itself from Saturday. before christmas
so that's like the 21st okay yep from that saturday
to the following saturday the 27th we had something
every single day oh gosh some of it wasn't super
out of the ordinary like sunday we just had church
which is pretty normal part of the routine right
but then like saturday before christmas we also
had church which is less of a normal routine
for us so we had church church monday before
we went to the zoo with family nice the next
day Lloyd had a doctor's appointment in the morning.
And then we also like started our family Christmas
stuff. So it's like pajamas and watching a movie
together. Just fun traditions. Yeah, all that.
And then Christmas Eve is when we do like our
family Christmas where we, you know, open presents
and stockings. have a super healthy breakfast
of cinnamon rolls and all of that. And then that
evening, my sister and her husband came over
and we watched a movie and ate sushi and did
a bunch of fun stuff. And then Christmas Day
is when we do stuff with our entire family. So
we go see my parents. We have breakfast with
them. We do presents with them. Then we do stuff
with Stuart's family. And thankfully, our families
are friends, so we all get together for dinner
in the evening. Nice. But that's, like, a really
long day. That's a long day of socialization.
And then my sister and her husband don't live
in town, so we're trying to, like, make the most
of time with them. So then we see them on the
day after Christmas and the day after that. And
we just had something, like, every second of
it. It felt like every second of every day. So
it was a lot. And especially like Lloyd's a little
introvert and poor little buddy was like clearly
super over it by the end. Like I just want people
to not be in my house. Yeah. But it was like
it's such a weird thing since like it was so
fun. So glad that like we got to see everyone
and have fun. But then also like really glad
that it was over. things can start to get to
normal. And especially with little kids. Like,
Christmas Day, neither of the kids napped. Not
because we didn't, like, plan around it. We did.
They just didn't. Just probably so, like, worked
up. Yeah. So they didn't nap at all. So by the
time everyone... Even Zeta did not nap. Nope.
Oh, wow. Yeah. They were both wide awake for
all of nap time. We, like, left them in the room
to see if, like, calm time, like, maybe they
would finally fall asleep. Nope. just didn't
nap at all so then we hosted dinner for our family
and by the time everyone came over like they
were both just exhausted and yeah and just over
it and i'm sure you guys were exhausted but yeah
because then you also have your overtired kids
yeah that like our kids get They get fussy, but
they also get super clingy. So then they don't
want to be around anyone else in the family.
They just want mom and dad the whole time. And
we're like, okay, like, I'm glad that you want
us, but also this isn't really working right
now. Yeah, no, I completely understand that.
It's so like, how did they do with opening presents
and stuff like that? Was that overwhelming or?
I don't think it was too bad. I mean, Lloyd,
since he like actually understands what's happening
this year. he didn't love when other people were
opening presents. Okay. Right. Where it's like,
if you're opening a present, he also wants to
be opening a present. Which like, that's to be
expected. Totally understandable. Do you guys
do Santa or no Santa? We didn't do Santa. Okay.
So, but what we did do is, this was partially
just practical because anything that was under
the tree prior to Christmas, like we tried to
put a couple presents under and they just were
like. Wanted to play with it, which is fair.
Yeah. So we did wait until they went to bed the
night before to like put everything out. So it
was like came downstairs. It was a fun thing
to come down to. Yeah. But the hard thing about
that, not about the not Santa thing, but about
just Lloyd being two and wanting to like having
this little attention span, but also like he
wants to open presents and he doesn't want to
wait for other people. is when we were opening
presents with family, both Stuart and I had to
keep being like, guys, come on, come on. I don't
want to be rushing through presents, but also
we kind of have to. We're on a time crunch here.
Yeah, especially the past few years when Lloyd
was littler and it didn't matter. there were
no little kids involved. You could do the thing
where it's like, everyone takes like five minutes
to open a present. Oh my gosh, thank you so much
for this sweater. Let me try this on right now.
Let me open this right now and make sure it works.
Exactly. Which is fine when everyone's older,
but it doesn't work when you have a two -year
-old and a 10 -month -old. Like that's just,
so yeah, Stuart and I kept getting a little stressed
out and frustrated with both families. Yeah.
With that, just because we're like, no, guys,
like, don't do the polite thing of, oh, is it
my turn? No. Just open a present. It's everybody's
turn. We don't care. Lloyd's distracted right
now, so open a present. I don't care. Yeah. Everybody
open. Yeah, that's like, Colt was like, just
present after present. If there was a present
there, he was going to open it. No matter, like,
if you wanted to play with it right now. Right.
It was like. oh, no, we're going to keep opening
all of these, and then I'll play with everything
all at once. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. I
feel like Lloyd, like, if he got interested in
something, then. Then that kind of kept him.
Yeah, entertained for a little bit. No, Colt
was, like, very much just if there was something
wrapped under the tree. He had to open it. Yeah,
we've got to open all of these. And no matter
if it was, like. A book versus, like, a ginormous
toy. Like, they were all equal until after. Like,
then he played with all of them. Which, to be
fair, is the move. Because you have to find out
what the most important gift is. For sure. Yeah.
Yeah. And it was totally, like, our bad for not
putting batteries in some things before we wrapped
them. Which, like, I will not do that from now
on. Because. then when he did want to play with
it after it's a big deal yeah then i'm like hold
on buddy i gotta find some double a batteries
and i'm like what a dumb dumb should have done
this before we only had one gift that had that
required batteries and we didn't realize it so
we just like because it's also a truck like it's
a truck with road builder trucks in it oh nice
so we were i bet that was a hit still just haven't
put batteries in it And he doesn't care. Nope.
He doesn't need to know. Yeah. We're like, we're
just going to run with this as long as we can.
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I feel like it was so fun
to have, like, with both having two -year -olds,
like, them actually interested in, like, Christmas
and the holiday cheer and all the things and
actually getting to, like, do those things this
year was really fun. exciting for us to be able
to like see through the lens of our kids this
year yeah yeah we have one neighbor in particular
that put up christmas lights i mean we had a
couple who did but not a ton but one in particular
that lloyd was like fixated on so every night
it's like we have to go see if this neighbor's
christmas lights are on and now that christmas
is over he'll say you know this neighbor uh christmas
lights are gone It's not Christmas anymore. You're
like, yeah. It's not Christmas. That's true,
buddy. It's so true. Sorry it's over. Yeah. Oh,
that's cute. Yeah. But so tell us about your
Christmas. I would love to. I can laugh about
it now. But so we went out to California for
Christmas. So both Michael and I work at. work
at the church here. And so we did all of Christmas
services. So it was six services. And you did
like your family Christmas before. Yes. Oh yeah.
So we did our family Christmas. I think it was
on the 19th. Um, and we did like, yeah, put all
presents under the tree and we, we did do Santa.
So we did like, we bake cookies. We set those
out for Santa. I actually forgot to put milk
out, which whatever is fine. It'll be fine. And
then we did like, um, fake little like footprints
um santa footprints and then yeah we wrapped
a bunch of gifts and then we left like the santa
gifts unwrapped okay um which is what my family
did or what yeah we did growing up and i mean
crews i just like carried down but Colt was so
cute. Like we went into his room and we said
like, oh, Santa came. And he's like, oh, he like
got so excited. And then we like walked him down
the stairs and he just like, I mean, he just
loved it. He like saw the footprints. We went
over and looked to see if Santa ate the cookies
and Santa left him a little note. And then. He
just started like looking at everything and some
of it was for Cruz, but he still thinks everything
is for him. Yes. Yeah. It was just like such
a special morning for us. And I'm so glad that
we did. We like took the time to just do it with
the four of us. Yeah. And like some of the gifts
were from family. So we like pre -wrapped those
family like. mailed it to us um so then we like
called family and said thank you for certain
things and then we literally just spent we had
christmas service that night but we spent like
pretty much all day just playing with all of
the toys yeah that's how we did too yeah just
it was so fun so fun and so special yeah it's
like one of my it was probably one of my favorite
days from last year of just like Yeah, we had
a great morning, lots of like laughing and just
fun and stayed in our pajamas pretty much all
day until we had to go to church. And I am really
looking forward to that continuing over the years.
Yeah. Yeah, it was just super fun to take that
time to have as a family. Yeah. So that was super
great. Then we did six church services. And so
our kids were in kids ministry for all six services,
which is... That's a lot for two little kids.
That's a lot for anyone. Yeah. Yeah. It was a
lot for me to, like, work all those services.
And I can't imagine, like, especially for Cole.
I'm like, he's doing the same art project six
times. Yeah. Like, poor kid. He's hearing the
same story. Yeah. And he did great. He's going
to know the Christmas story really well. Yeah.
He did so great. We didn't hear anything that,
like. You know, he was having a hard time during
the service or anything like that. He didn't
bite anyone this time? As far as I know, he didn't
bite anyone. And he tells us now when we pick
him up. Okay, well, that's good. Mom, I no bite
anyone. Good. I'm like, oh, good, buddy. And
he doesn't know to lie yet. Yeah. That hasn't
clicked on in their brain yet. Yes, yeah. You
know he's telling the truth. Yeah. And so did
all six services. We actually, so on Sunday,
there was two services in the morning. And then
we left from church. to go straight to the airport.
Perfect. And our thought process behind that
was like, Oh, we're gonna like the kids will
nap in the car. Um, and like, that's going to
be their nap because like ideally the next flight
was like a 6 PM flight. And we like, we were
like, let's just go. Our, the flight was at four.
So Went straight to the airport. Both kids didn't
fall asleep until we were, like, 15 minutes away
from the airport. Naturally. Naturally. So they
each got a 15 -minute nap. Love it. Before a
two -hour flight? Yeah, a two -hour flight. And
surprisingly, like, both kids were in okay moods.
And, I mean, you float a lot with the kids, so
that helps, too. Yeah, and we've kind of got
it down of, like, Cruz is starting to get too
big for the carrier, but, like, I'll strap him
on. And then Colt will just walk. And he, like,
carries his little backpack. That's so cute.
It's very cute. But, like, getting him to, like,
come on, buddy. Let's go. Let's go. And then
with only a 15 -minute nap, it's, like, a little
bit slower. Yeah. But get through to the airport.
Everything's great. Get on the plane. I think
that cruise slept most of the flight. if I'm
remembering correctly. And Colt, we let him play
on the iPad for the plane. And that's the only
time he gets an iPad. So it's like a fun, like
he gets really excited for it. Yeah, yeah. And
so he did great too. We get off the plane and
then it kind of went downhill from there. For
some reason, our bags took forever to get to
baggage claim. I'm not even kidding, like 45
minutes that we're waiting for our bags. That's
crazy. And so our ride, Michael's aunt came and
picked us up, got there. And so me and Colton
Cruz went out to the car while Michael waited
for the bags. But then security got all mad.
They won't let you just sit there. No, they wouldn't
let us just sit there. So then I had to unload
the boys and go back in because, oh, no, because
our car seat hadn't arrived yet for Cruz. And
Colt's car seat was not attached. Like, Michael
needed to come attach it. Gotcha. And so there
were no car seats in the car for the boys. So
then I had to take the boys out of the car. We
were just, like, hanging out inside the car.
Yeah. And Michael's aunt had to, like, keep looping
around until we got our bags. And in that time,
Colt decided to poop. Oh, okay. Yeah, just as
we're waiting for bags. So he's, like, under
the bench. in baggage claim area, just like pooping
and like getting, like yelling at me when I'm
like, buddy, we gotta go. And he's like, no mom,
stop. And I could tell then I was like, Oh, something's
like, he's super overtired. I knew that. But
also I'm like, he's like pooping for a long time
here. And so then finally like get him out of
the airport. We get our bags, get him out of
the airport. He's having a full blown tantrum,
like change him in the trunk. And then we get
all loaded up, drive to Michael's aunt's house,
which that ended up being fine. I was like, both
boys need to stay awake, which they did, surprisingly.
And then, of course, that night we get to Michael's
aunt's house and we're having – it's one of their
family traditions to do pizza and watch Elf and
then all wear matching pajamas. And so that was
that night. So we get to – michael's aunt's house
i think it was like seven o 'clock by now or
something and so i'm like both boys just need
to go to sleep but we're staying up to eat pizza
watch elf yeah and both boys did great then got
them to bed and then i think it was at like maybe
12 30 so our sleeping arrangements i sleep in
michael's aunt's room with And then Michael sleeps
in the guest room with Colt. And then Michael's
aunt sleeps in the living room, which I feel
bad for. What a gem, though. Just, like, letting
it happen that way. Yeah. All that to say, Michael
comes into the room at, I think it was, like,
1230. And, like, I was feeding Cruz, so I was
already awake. And he goes, Laura, Colt just
threw up all over himself. I was like, oh, my
God. I was like, are you serious? What everyone
wants to hear. Yeah. I'm like, oh, gosh. Okay.
And of course, Cruz is awake. So I'm like, just
unlatch him and just like carry him into the
room. And Colt literally was, he was sitting
in the pack and play, just like shaking. Poor
buddy. And I was like, are you okay, buddy? And
he goes, yeah, I'm okay. I was like, okay, buddy.
I was like, do you feel okay? Yeah. I was like,
okay. Well, let's get you cleaned up. I was like,
and he was super, like, agreeable to everything.
And I think it, like, must have scared him. Yeah.
Because he was, like, shaking, but he just was
like, okay, whatever I need to do. So I, like,
get him out of the bed, get him, like, get all
his blankets out, get his new pajamas on. I,
like, I don't think I ended up giving him a bath
because it was just, like, on his pajamas and
then his blankets. So then I just, we got him
new jammies. And then got him back into bed.
And then probably an hour later or something,
I'm like laying with him. And Michael then took
Cruz into the other room. So we just switched.
Colt like sits up and pukes again. And thankfully
I got a bowl. A bowl. Perfect. Yeah. With the
paper towels. I like didn't catch it all, but
I caught most of it in the bowl. So then we ended
up having it. Then changed the sheets on the
whole bed. This was probably like 1 .30 or something.
And then changed Colt's pajamas again. And then
laid back down. Finally get Colt asleep again.
And then he wakes up and pukes again. And I was
like. After the second puke, Michael and I were
like, maybe he just, like, I mean, he ate a lot
of candy. He, like, had pizza. He had a 15 -minute
nap. Like, he's probably just super overtired.
And when I'm super overtired, I feel gross. Yeah.
And, like, I want to throw up sometimes. Again,
lots of sugar. That makes it worse. Like, he
doesn't usually have this much sugar. And then,
yeah, after the third time, we were like, I think
he's sick. he's sick i'm like he got sick from
church from christmas services like we're going
down all right here we go so then the next morning
he like seemed totally fine throughout the day
we're like okay maybe it's just like a quick
like 12 hour thing or whatever and like sometimes
if you eat something funky you know it's like
it like messes with your tummy it's like low
-key food poisoning right we are like okay it's
out of my system now i feel yeah And so we still
kind of thought that for like the next 24 hours.
We like ended up trying to go up to my mom's
house that night because we were going to do
like cookie decorating at her house. And we were
like, oh, Colt's feeling good. And then he pukes
in the car on the way up there. So then we just
turned around. Was it a rental car too? No, thankfully.
It was, well, it was a family car. But I like
caught it in the bowl because we brought the
bullets. The bowl had been through a lot with
us that week. Mom reflexes right there. Well,
I like was, I sat in the back with them because
I was like, if there's a chance that Colt's going
to get sick. For sure. I'm like, I'd rather be
right here. I have the bowl. Yeah. And I like
probably 10 minutes into our drive, I was like
looking at Colt and he's just kind of like staring.
And I'm like, I like, yeah, I'm like, hey, Michael,
I think he's going to T -H -R -O -W up. Like
we spell a lot of things. Yeah. He's like, oh,
really? And then it was like within the next
minute he's like throwing up. And so I was ready
for it. Nice. So not very much got on him or
the car seat, thankfully. That's good. So then
we just turned around and we were like, yeah,
we're going to give it another day. It's like
he's not feeling good still. And it sucks being
sick not in your house, too. Like, no matter
who you are. But I would imagine especially this
little kid who, like, has less logic and regulation.
You know, it's like, I don't want to be sick
not in my own bed and throwing up in someone
else's toilet. I know. I know. And I felt so
bad. And he had such a good attitude through
all of it. I'm like, I know he feels so crappy,
but he's like. He's still playing as much as
he can. He's like still trying. And that's like
what doctors always say too of like, well, how
are they acting? Like that's the indicator of
how sick they are. They're like, okay, it can't
be that bad. And originally we wouldn't have
even tried to go up to my mom's house if we knew
he was feeling bad still. He just didn't seem
like he was feeling bad. And so then, yeah, I
was like I canceled on my mom. I was like, I
just don't want to get anyone else sick if this
is not food poisoning or whatever we thought
it was. So then, yeah, next day was the 23rd.
We ended up just like chilling the whole time.
We didn't do anything because we were like, let's
just give Cole a day to relax. I think we watched
a lot of TV and just hung out at the house. Then
Christmas Eve, he seemed fine again. So we like
had to finish some Christmas shopping. So I think
we did that. And then went to a Christmas Eve
service there. And he was totally fine. And then
went to bed that night on Christmas Eve. And
I think, yeah, Michael and Colt were like, Colt
was not in the pack and play. They were just
in the bed together. And then once again, around
probably 1 a .m., Michael comes in and says,
Laura Colt just pooped everywhere. I was like.
Are you serious? Cruz was once again already
awake. You take care of it this time. Carry Cruz
in, hand Cruz to Michael and shine my light.
And Colt's literally just laying. I wish I had
a picture of it. Poor, poor buddy. I hope this
doesn't embarrass him like years from now if
he listens back. But he, I'm not even joking.
There was poop everywhere. Like all up his front.
all up his back, all on the bed, on the pillow.
Surprisingly, not any on Michael, which he is
still very surprised. But Michael said he like
woke up and, you know, like when like your pet
like pukes or poops like everywhere and you like
wake up and you can just like smell it and you
know. It was like that situation where Michael
said he woke up and he like then woke Colt up
and said, Colt, did you poop? And Colt goes,
no, dad. To be fair, if someone woke me up and
just immediately asked if I pooped. I'd be pissed
off too. I would also be pissed, yeah. But I'm
not even kidding. I've never seen so much poop
in my life. And poor buddy, once again, he was
so agreeable. And like when I go in there and
I'm like, okay, buddy, this is what we're going
to do. I'm going to help you stand up and then
I'm going to carry you to the bathroom. He goes,
okay, mom. Okay. And so I like. Pick him up and
it's one of those ones where you like hold him
far away from your body. Go into the bathroom.
And this diaper was like, it was the heaviest
diaper I've ever felt in my life. And it was
one of those moments where. We need a trash bag
just for this one diaper. No, we legit threw
his pajamas away. We threw all of the bedding
away. We did not even try to clean the bedding.
And we ran the bath, got him in the bath. Got
him all cleaned up. And then in the bath, he
goes, Mama, I have to poo -poo. And I go, Oh,
no. Take him out of the bath. And he pooped on
the potty, which I'm so thankful for. But it
was, sorry if this is TMI to anyone, but it was
one of those moments. He goes, Mom, I'm peeing.
And I go, No, buddy. You're pooping. This is
different. But good job. We're going to get stickers
for your potty chart. And poor buddy. We thought
the sickness, like, he was done with the sickness.
But it was, like, yeah, two days later where
it just, like, hit him in another wave. And so
then it was probably the next three or four hours
where he went through, like, 10 to 15 diapers
of just, yeah. And then next day was Christmas.
And we're, like, we're. Merry Christmas. Yeah,
Merry Christmas. And since he was just, like,
having. diarrhea we still went to the family
things which i we probably shouldn't have honestly
thankfully like no one else got sick but and
he like colt was acting fine other than his tummy
was just upset right and he's still like he still
ate breakfast he like still ate and stuff but
it just like we call it poopmageddon it was appropriate
yeah yeah It was pretty bad. But he like still
had a great Christmas. We had a great Christmas.
He just like was pooping a ton. And then it was
the next day we went up to my dad's house after
Christmas. Everything seemed fine. I like was
like, I just, I feel like not. I was like, I
feel kind of off. I don't know if it was like
just I'm exhausted from traveling. We haven't
really like gotten rest in any sense. You've
been up with vomit or poop every single night
since you've been gone. You've probably eaten
a ton of sugar yourself. Yep. Yep. And Cruz like
was not sleeping good at all. And so I was like,
I just I wasn't really hungry. I don't know.
I felt kind of off. And then that night going
to bed. the sickness hit me. Perfect. Yeah. And
was Cruz finally better at this point? Uh, Cole.
Yeah. Cole was finally better. Yeah. Yeah. And
it's one of those moments where I'm like, I wish
we would have all just gotten sick at the same
time and had to like a terrible two days rather
than like staggered. Cause then it hit me and
I'm not going to go into too much detail here.
Mostly for my. my safety my reputation because
you get embarrassed too yes but it is so hard
to nurse a child when you feel like you're gonna
vomit all over the place yeah and those are the
moments that really humble me of like this sucks
yeah and i think it we were talking about it
that i think it should be illegal for parents
to be sick especially moms I agree yeah that
should be just not allowed I've been sick this
week not that kind of sick but I've just had
a cold this week and it's so terrible strongly
agree yeah and so I then I was down for the count
for like the next surprisingly I feel like I
bounced back fairly quickly it was like that
all night that that first night and then I just
like slept for As much as I could until the evening
that next day. That's nice that you got some
sleep. And Michael's aunt was super helpful.
Helped with the kids. Is she letting you stay
ever again now that you... I know. We've asked
her. I'm like... You're not going to want us
to stay here. And she's like, stop it. No, you
guys are always welcome here. I'm like, do you
know how many bodily fluids my family got all
over your ass? So much Lysol was used. I'm not
even kidding. And every time someone was sick,
we're like, all right, we've moved past this.
So then we like cleaned everything, like all
the sheets, Lysoled everything, Cloroxed everything,
and then someone else would go down. So then,
yeah, then I was out for like 24 hours. And then
the next day, I think we were five. the next
day and then it was the next morning after that
it hit michael perfect and so then he was down
for he legit probably slept like 18 hours like
the next i've had those 24 hours i'm like at
one point i was like do i need to go check on
him is he like is he dead in there but I don't
think you would mind me saying this, but I've
only heard Michael puke twice in our entire 10
-year relationship, 11 years that we've been
together. So that's when you know it's bad for
him because he will do anything in all of his
power to never throw up because he hates it so
much. And I'm one of those people that I'm like,
let's just, you know, if it's going to make me
feel better. Yeah, I feel like. prior to pregnancy
i would do anything i could to not throw up yeah
now that i've dealt with like pretty serious
i don't know if it's that serious but having
dealt with morning sickness and like throwing
up multiple times a day i'm kind of like yeah
if it's gonna make me feel better yeah i'll get
it over with yep i still don't want to like no
one wants to throw up but but if it's gonna make
you feel better um so then he was he was down
for the next yeah 24 to 48 -ish hours. I forget
kind of what it was. It's all blur at this point.
And I was still not feeling like super great
at this point, but you just power through. You
do. Like my kids need me to be. There's nothing
else you can do. No, no. So then, yeah, then
Michael like two mornings later I think would
like bounce back and he's like, all right, I'm
good to go. You're like, today's the day we leave.
Yeah. And so I think we did get out of the house
that day. I think we went to like Barnes and
Noble. Perfect. And we were like, we just need
Colt. Yeah. Colt just needs to like, I don't
know. We just need to get out of the house. Yeah.
And then that night I'm like, okay, I think we're,
we had like two days left of our trip. I was
like, okay, we're going to have a really good
last two days. And then Cruz started puking that
night. Yeah. And I was like, originally I was
like, I think Cruz made it through. I was like,
breast milk has a lot of antibodies. It does.
I'm like, I think we're in the clear. And then
he puked. Nope. And I'm like, the first time
he puked, I was like, maybe he just overate.
And then he puked two more times. And it's. I
felt so bad. I feel extra bad for babies who
like they have no idea what's going on. And you
can't explain it to them. And he's just like
crying and like he has nothing left to puke and
he's just like trying to and it's so sad. And
so then, yeah, he thankfully, I feel like his
was like the shortest. The shortest little stint.
His was just through the night. Okay, that's
not bad. And then he seemed okay the next day.
The next day he just kind of slept a lot. But
he seemed okay. But all that to say, yeah, then
we had like one day where it was good. And then
we left. And then we came home. Great, great,
great. All that to say our holidays was not what
we expected. We had to cancel on a lot of different
things. We ended up, I do think. there was some
benefits to it. Like it forced us to slow down
and like our lives are so busy. And I think that,
yeah, we don't get to slow down very often for
sure. And so this was like a forced rest. It
didn't obviously look like what we wanted it
to look like. And we didn't get to like, I didn't
get to see some of my friends in California.
I was planning to get my hair done. Didn't do
that. We were supposed to go to a baby shower,
a birthday party. supposed to spend more time
with my family and it just none of that happened
right so we kind of left our trip feeling discouraged
and just like well that's a huge rubber to like
travel yeah to go see all these people and then
and then we're just sick yeah you're like i would
rather just be sick at home yeah yeah and so
yeah part of us were like well what if i wish
we kind of just hadn't come but then i'm glad
we did go But it is the side of, like, I wish
I was sick in my own home and not someone else's.
Thankfully, Michael's aunt never got sick. That's
crazy. It's so crazy. Because she, I mean, she
helped us clean everything every time someone
was sick. So has she been sated yet? I know,
right? She's, like, one of those people that
she didn't get COVID for, like. three years or
something when COVID was like a big thing. She
just has an immune system like no other. That's
amazing. Yeah. It just wasn't, the holidays was
not what we pictured. There were very sweet moments
of it. And like, like I said before, seeing like
Colt just so excited with Christmas was super
fun. And so he did get like moments of that.
And we got to see pretty much everyone we wanted
to see for the most part. At least one time.
That's good. Just not multiple times like we
wanted to. And it sucks because we were like,
we were there for 12 days. It felt like a really
long period of time. Yeah. If no one was sick,
it would have been like. Yeah, it would have
been great. Yeah. It almost would have been maybe
too long. Right. But the fact that we were down
for like nine out of those 12 days was pretty
rough. Yeah. I mean, this is going to be one
of those Christmases that in like 20 years, you
guys don't remember it. But we sure do. Yeah.
Yeah. And I think that I'm one of those people
that always has really high expectations. I don't
know if you're like this. But when my expectations
are not met, I'm then disappointed with any situation.
Sure. Yeah. But with this especially where I'm
like I'm picturing all these like magical things
and – We're making memories together. And I'm
like, oh, no, we're just really – Just getting
to know each other a lot more. Ways we didn't
want to. Yeah. So it was not what we expected.
But, you know, it is what it is. But you survived.
Yeah. So here you are. We did. And you weren't
sick on the – no one was sick on the plane ride.
No. And I'm so grateful. Like on the plane ride
to California and the plane ride home, no one
was sick, which I'm so thankful. Like it hit
cold like three hours after we landed. And so
that just would have been absolutely terrible.
Yes, for sure. If it would have been on the plane
or even if it would have been before we even
left, because then it would have been the decision
of like, do we even go? Do we need to like delay
our flight? And then we probably wouldn't have
even gone because it would have just, I mean,
it just hit us one by one. Yeah, just figuring
that out. Yeah. So there were absolutely plus
sides to all of it. Um, but I don't think I've
ever, like as a family, we've never been sick
for like that span of a time altogether. Yeah.
I feel like it's usually like two of us are sick
at the same time and it's like all kind of overlapping,
but yeah. Yeah. But super great. Well, what's
like, do you have a favorite moment? I know that
was like, obviously not the Christmas you wanted,
but. Of the holidays as a whole. Yeah, just,
like, whether it's from, like, your guys' family
Christmas or, like, in the midst of everyone
being sick, like, a sweet moment. Just, like,
okay, everything sucked. But, like, I'll hold
on to that forever because that was really sweet.
Yeah. Yeah, I would say that family Christmas
morning, I think that will just stick with me
for the rest of my life as, like, the first kind
of intentional. Because, like. last year for
christmas yes we celebrated but it wasn't i mean
colt was one we didn't really do a whole lot
i guess for sure yeah same with lloyd last year
yeah we opened presents but he didn't really
care yeah colt like kind of ripped the paper
i guess but this christmas he was like very excited
about the presents and one of his gifts was a
bunch of magnetiles um and he loves them and
so now it's like I mean, if anyone listening
has, like, young boys and you don't have magnet
tiles, like, I mean, Colt will sit there and
build magnet tiles for, like, 30 to 45 minutes,
which to have the attention span for a two -year
-old to just sit and, like, build and do something.
Yeah, we'll have to pull. Ours we could, like,
put away in a closet for a while, so maybe we'll
have to pull them back out. Yeah, you should
try them again and see if he's interested. Yeah.
But I would say just, like, just that whole morning
as a whole and, like, It's so much more fun Christmas
morning to be like the parents now. Yeah, I agree.
Rather than being like. the kid which as a kid
it's so exciting yeah but as a parent it's so
magical like yeah i would agree that like it's
more magical as a parent which is funny because
you're the one making it happen making the magic
and that's so fun like the night before when
michael and i are like prepping everything and
like deciding where to put things and like do
the footprints and all the things like that is
just It just is super fun. And I'm excited to
keep doing that throughout the years. But I think
I'll especially hold on to this one. Yeah. Even
though it wasn't like on Christmas morning, it's
still. I don't know. I mean, so we. Like, honestly,
never in our marriage have we done, like, our
family Christmas on Christmas Day. And at first
it was just like, well, it's just the two of
us. So it doesn't really make sense to disrupt
the whole family thing for just the two of us.
But we want to do something intentional. And
then it just, like, kind of made sense to just,
like, stick with that. Yeah. So, like, I don't
know. And I've been thinking about this a lot
because there's so many, like. parents and grandparents
and in -laws who just complain like it has to
be this time on december 25th it's like well
what's the thing that's really important yeah
like the date i understand there's like a little
bit of like time off the significance to yeah
but but like the date itself like it's about
what like what we're celebrating and like yeah
Jesus was actually born in like September, I
think. Yeah, we have no idea. I mean, they have
some ideas, but yeah, it probably wasn't December
25th. And yeah, so it's about like what we're
celebrating and like how we celebrate it as a
family. And if that doesn't happen on a certain
date, like we didn't have either of our kids.
Lloyd's never had a birthday party on his actual
birthday because it's been on like a Wednesday.
Yeah. And like same with Zeta this year. So,
you know, and we wouldn't say that's any less
special. No. You know, but there's this like
obsession with Christmas where it's like we have
to celebrate on the 25th. And it's like, no,
we can just like find the time to celebrate as
a family, whether it's like your little family
or your extended family. Yep. To like make it
all work together. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like I
grew up, my parents are divorced and both remarried.
So we would always celebrate with my mom one
day or growing up. It was my mom in the morning,
dad in the afternoon because it had to be like
on Christmas like that. But now it's like, oh,
we. we split it up into multiple days because
that's what works. And it's like, try to have
it a little less stimulating, I guess, for the
kids. And you have more time together and you
have more. It's not rushed. It's not rushed.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. What was a highlight for you?
So one of Lloyd's like, it wasn't even like a
big present, but like his main present, I guess,
was since he's obsessed with the movie cars.
Yeah. We got him Mac, the Mac truck. And he loves
it so much. Like, honestly, if that was the only
present we got him, he would be happy. But to
the point where for probably a full week afterwards,
every time he woke up, first words, I go downstairs,
I go play with Mac. All right. Like, okay, that'll
get you out of bed. Great. But just immediately,
I go downstairs, I go play with Mac. And he just
loves it so much. That's so cute. And yeah, so
it's like, I think the first time he's, like
registered that he received a present and it's
something that he really really loves it's like
he's gotten stuff before but it's like toys also
just kind of appear in life sometimes for little
kids yeah so yeah and then they're like big present
we have one of those Stuart made this last year,
like one of those Montessori arches. So we've
had that for a year. And then this year he made
a slide to go on it, which they're obsessed with
having a slide in the house. I love it. It's
so nice. And Zeta's also figured out how to climb
up it. Cute. So she'll climb up it and then slide
down on her belly, which is super cute. That's
adorable. But yeah, I think like similar to just
like enjoying them getting excited. again lloyd
especially this year's ada doesn't really care
yet and just like the light in his eyes as he
opens mac for the first time i'm like oh my gosh
this is everything i ever dreamed of it makes
me want to just spend literally all of all of
my money on toys for my kids yeah i'm like i
understand how people overdo it yeah oh yeah
because i'm like i just want to get them Anything
they could ever want. Yeah. And obviously that's
not smart, but I understand. And then you're
like, I don't want this money twice my house.
Oh my gosh. That's the other side of it too is
like since we were in California, people give
the boys gifts and then trying to travel back
with gifts. Do you have like an extra suitcase?
So we didn't bring an extra suitcase this year.
We tried to shove as much as we could into like
the space that we had in our suitcases, but we
had to send a huge box. and it like my brother
specifically he like forgot that we travel which
is so funny and so he got a drum set he grews
a piano like smaller for the kids but like still
uh then having to mail these things back it's
so funny like these can stay at your house we
will come play them yes exactly but then michael
and i like traveling home we're like we're literally
gonna we need to purge all of the toys that we
have because our kids do not need this many toys
and we just don't care they don't care yeah i'm
like so this past week lloyd just like plays
with i mean he like got it he's played with almost
all the toys he's gotten for christmas yeah But
like he could play with just Mac and Lightning.
Yeah. Like if those were the only two toys he
had, I think he'd be happy. For sure. And so
this past week since we've gotten home, I'm like
I've slowly just every night I've kind of like
taken one toy and like either put it in storage
or thrown it in the trash. Yeah. So both Stuart
and I had the week between Christmas and New
Year's off as well. And typically my parents
take the kids on Wednesdays when I'm working.
And so they're like, do you want us to do that
this week? And we decided yes. One, because we're
like, oh, we can have like a little bit of a
day date and like do something together. But
then also what we did was cleaned out their closet.
Because we don't really, like, we store some
clothes in their closet, but mostly like jackets
and stuff like that. But we had been storing
board games in their closet that were like, we
don't want to get rid of these. But also. We're
not going to be playing them for a while. Yeah,
we don't have time to play a three -hour game
of Catan right now. Yeah, and they don't understand.
But we're going to save them for when they do
understand. So we reorganized a bunch of stuff.
So we took the shelf that was in their closet
and had the board games, brought it down to our
main living area because it's one of those cube
shelves. So this is perfect for toys. It also
puts everything kind of out for them to see so
they actually know what they're doing. could
play with makes it easier for us to be like oh
this is what they're playing with versus not
playing with yeah and then same thing like went
through all of the toys put some in storage gave
some away yeah some of the stuff that people
have gotten us throughout the years that were
like things Thank you so much. And that has lived
in the back of their closet since then. Yeah.
We have a couple of those. Yeah. So we did the
same thing. That's smart. It's smart. Yeah. There's
just so many toys. It's so much. I know. I need
to like figure out a way to organize all the
toy like bins. And that's what I really want
is like if it doesn't match one of our bins that
we have, then it's like. Where do we put it?
Right now, it just feels like I have so many
toys that are just like laying on top of the
shelf or like, yeah, in the shelf, but it doesn't
have a home because it doesn't have a category
it fits into. Sure. So it's just like, I don't
even know where to put this thing. Yeah. Yeah.
So I don't know. Just random thoughts, but. Super
grateful for all the gifts and toys for the kids.
Like, absolutely. I just feel like now I need
to declutter my life a little more. One nice
thing. our family's been pretty respectful of
is we're like please don't get a lot of toys
but you're allowed to get as many books as you
want like that's the one thing because we're
like we don't want to take away the joy of giving
yeah we both sir and i love giving gifts as well
so we're like it sucks when someone's like don't
get me a gift yeah and especially for little
kids you want to get gifts that's so fun so that's
been kind of our thing is like let's limit the
toys but as many books as you want yeah and so
both uh sets of grandparents this year got like
several books nice which has also then been super
fun because the kids love books and yeah that
lives a lot longer i feel like than toys anyways
yeah okay so outside of all of the sickness what
was like the hardest moment that's a great question
do you have an answer and i can think yeah so
i kind of have two and it just like it boils
down to overstimulation yeah we're just like
was like kind of hard for me as a mom like with
my mom part so what happened on Christmas day
and then what happened the next day or again
Lloyd's a little more introverted so then he's
overstimulated there's lots of people he's pretty
over it and on Christmas day at one point it
was in the evening everyone was at our house
and he just wanted me to hold him and I think
he like just wanted like a minute where like
grandparents and uncle aren't like around him
which is fine But then multiple people came over
and were like, oh, buddy, are you so tired? And
like trying to rub his back and stuff like that.
Like I know you're trying to help and I can't
fault you for like wanting to help. It's like
you love him too. But also like I think he just
needs, he just wants his mom to give him a hug
and to like have him in it. And then a similar
thing happened the next day where my sister and
her husband came over. And this is so tough because.
They drove for two days to come out for Christmas.
And they were also in town for a pretty short
period of time this time. So I think they drove
for as many days as they were in town. They drove
two days out. They were in town for, I think,
four, maybe five days. And then two days back
home. So obviously, we want to make the most
of the time, all that. But then also, I want
to take care of my kids. And so they were at
our house the day after Christmas. And Lloyd
kept coming over to me and being like, Go upstairs.
Go upstairs. I was like, why do you want to go
upstairs, buddy? And finally I took him upstairs
and he just wanted to play. So I was like, oh,
I think you just don't want people in your house.
Yeah. Which, again, I can relate to. Yeah. But
it was just like. He just wanted a little alone
time. Yeah. But it was just like such a tough
thing of like, again, so thankful of like my
sister and her husband. Yeah. Came out and like
want to spend time with them, want the kids to
spend time with them. All of that. but also like
how do you like find the balance of then like
taking care of this kid who just he just needs
to alone time that's so so sad and also so sweet
that he's like learning to to like communicate
express that yeah yeah oh buddy yeah i would
actually say A hard moment for us. Kind of similar,
actually. I mean, Christmas, like you said, it
throws off everything. It throws off like my
kids thrive off of routine. And so do I. Whenever
naps get thrown off, like just schedule in general
and then like traveling, like it's just. I'm
trying to be the flexible parent, but it's hard.
Yeah. And it just throws everything off, which
I think throws Colt especially off right now.
And so it was on the 26th that we were over at
my dad's house and it was, we had like an early
dinner. I think it was like three o 'clock maybe
or something, three or four. And Colt is just
having like a full blown tantrum. And it's like.
I think maybe he got a 20, 30 -minute nap again.
Ideal. Yeah, that day. And so I knew, like, I
was like, he's going to, it's going to be a rough,
like, evening. For sure. And so Michael, like,
took him into another room, just, like, away
from the family dinner that was happening. And
I think my dad, which loved my dad so much, he,
like, looked at me and he's like, Colt's really
having a big tantrum, huh? And I'm like. well
yeah i was like well yeah like he's super overstimulated
he's very overtired he's been through he's been
sick yeah and i kind of like not that he meant
it in a negative way but it like i kind of took
offense to it of like yeah like oh man you gotta
control your child and i'm like no it's and also
like it's an emotional response for like for
the lack of like I don't know, the lack of sleep,
like all these. Just everything. Yeah, so much.
Also, there's like, this is a different tangent,
but there's differences between a meltdown and
a tantrum. Like a tantrum is I didn't get what
I want, so I'm throwing a fit and I'm kicking
and stomping my feet. Where a meltdown is what
we all have when we're tired and over hungry
and overstimulated and feeling all the things
as adults. generally speaking we know how to
control that right there's some people that don't
yes um but like such a good yeah as adults like
we know how to handle being overtired and yeah
getting over being sick Sometimes we still have,
and we still have meltdowns as adults. We just
handle them differently. But yeah, so like he
wasn't really having a tantrum. No, he was having
a meltdown and it's because he's tired and like
there's all these new people that he's coming,
new -ish people that he's coming into contact
with that we don't see on the daily. Right, and
people who know him, but he doesn't know too,
which makes it really hard. And he's expected
to like play with them, communicate with them.
Like it's a law as a little kid. And so I like
in no way did I fault him for having this meltdown.
But to me it just felt like I was judged in my
parenting a little bit there. Not that I – when
I look back on it, I think I just like I was
actually getting sick at this moment too. But
like I think that I was like not in the right
emotional state either. But I just – yeah, I
think at that moment. Michael and I were like,
all right, let's wrap up dinner and then I think
we're going to head out because it's just kind
of – I don't think we're going to improve here.
And so I would say that was probably the hardest
moment for us over the holidays. Yeah, other
than obviously poopmageddon. Right, right. Yeah,
but otherwise. Yeah. Yeah, overstimulation is
just so like such a – key thing i think for yeah
families during the holidays yeah and then you
had sugar and like all these things the expectations
of little kids is really high yeah like how you're
supposed to act again around people who you don't
see very often or even people you do see often
and it's just yeah i feel like cole is like i
would say he's extroverted when he's around people
that he knows super well but introverted whenever
it's like a little shy yeah he becomes a little
bit shy and he was very shy this trip um well
again in a lot of situations yeah there's a lot
of like extenuating circumstances but yeah it's
also i think really cute too like i'm sure with
lloyd like it's cute whenever they kind of cling
on to you and you're like, Oh buddy. Yeah. I
think it's nice because especially at like when
you're with your kid 24 seven, which we pretty
much are, you see all of the, like you get all
the rough parts and very infrequently, or at
least I feel this way where it's like you get
the tantrum. That's I'm. kicking you and trying
to hit you and you're trying to control that
and you're trying not to lose it because that's
happening and you know that that's a positive
thing as a mom yeah like they're safe with you
because they know that they can do this and that
you're still gonna love them but it's nice to
see the sweet parts of that too of them feeling
safe with you of i'm overwhelmed and instead
of kicking you right now i'm gonna go to my mom
and i just want her to hold me yeah or dad yeah
and i think like we just don't see that A lot
in a day -to -day basis. So it's nice to like
have that reminder in a sweet way. Yes, absolutely.
Yeah, I would say, I mean, we talked about like
this holiday for us was super memorable in good
ways and in bad ways. For sure. And I think next
year, I think we talked about this too, next
Christmas we'll talk about like, oh, do you remember
last Christmas whenever everyone was pooping
and vomiting all over the place? Gosh, the flu
is so bad this year. It is so, so bad. It's rough.
Well, should we hop into our wins of the week
then? Yeah, you can go first. Okay, great. Okay,
so Cole is super into, have you heard of Danny
Go? I think you've talked about him before, yeah.
He's on YouTube. Did I talk about Danny Go already
on the podcast? Maybe. The Flamingo Dance? Oh,
yes. Okay, we've moved on from the Flamingo Dance.
During this trip, Colt just, like, his obsession
with Danny Go kind of escalated because, I mean,
we were down a lot of days, so we watched a lot
of TV. Yeah, a lot of screen time, unfortunately.
But Danny Go is, like, has a bunch of music videos
that are, like, interactive, and so Colt is,
like, obsessed. Have you heard of, like, have
you heard of the Tony boxes? Yeah, they're like
little musical boxes. So we got him. Well, my
mom got him a Tony box, but then we got him like
a Danny Go thing for it. So then he can like
listen to the music anytime he wants. And the
first song that plays on it is called I'm a Superhero.
And he like has made this song his entire personality.
now michael's grandma who sews is making colt
or made colt a cape that's super cute and i think
it's in the mail right now but he like legit
like he gets his blanket and has us tie it around
him like a cape he wears danny go wears like
this aviator like beanie or like hat with like
glasses on it we don't have that so colt uses
safety glasses and wears safety glasses and then
if he can't find his gardening gloves to wear
he'll put his socks on his hands as his superhero
gloves and then he puts his shoes on like because
danny goes wearing shoes in the video you can't
not wear yeah and so he like anytime this song
comes on he like he says pause it mom pause it
and then he goes and gets all the things and
then i have to put it on him and then he like
dances to it the dance that danny go does that's
so cute and i'm just like i don't love that this
is like another video that we watch but i'm obsessed
with his obsession over it yeah because he's
so stinking cute and it's just like A little
boy pretending to be a superhero is so wholesome.
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And I'm like him just singing
it. And like he also does tumbling on Saturdays.
So this morning we went to tumbling and he's
like in his tumbling class doing the like singing
at the top of his lungs and doing this dance
in front of all of these other little kids. And
I'm like, this is this is like. the childhood
I want for you. Yeah. Yeah. That's so sweet.
And I just, I'm going to be so sad when this
obsession goes. Cause I, I mean, obsessions come
and go like this for kids. And so I'm like, I
know this one will be gone at some point, but
I love it so much right now. And I just, yeah,
he's so like unapologetically just singing so
loudly anywhere and it's so cute. So that's the
best. Yeah. Okay. How about you? Um, so Lloyd
has been asking us to play with him, but not
like, he doesn't say, come play with me. He said,
he'll be like, mom, go over there. Sometimes
he says, come here, but we're still getting all
of those words figured out. Um, so he'll. One
of his favorite things is we have a bench that's
under a window. And so he likes to stand on the
bench and drive his cars on the windowsill. So
he'll be standing on that and be like, mom, go
over there. Like, you want me to come over there
to you? It's like, yeah. And then he just wants
me to like sit next to him while he like crashes
his monster trucks or plays with Lightning McQueen.
And it's just really sweet because he doesn't
usually. He doesn't really want you to play with
a car. Not really. No. Just watch me. Yeah. There's
been a couple times when he'll like let me play,
but usually he just wants me to like be near
him while he plays, which is just so sweet. Yeah.
And again, I think when like day -to -day bombing
is really hard, those little sweet moments are
like, oh, okay. You do like me. I do like you.
Yeah. And this is. Like you just want me to be
with you. Yeah. And that's so cute. And this
is what. This is about. It's so fun. That's so
sweet. Does he like tell Zeta to come over and
or not quite yet? Not quite yet. What he will
do is if usually if she's doing something he
doesn't want her to do. Yeah. Then it'll be like
Zeta go over there. Get away from me. Yeah. You
can't just or if like we're holding Zeta and
he wants to be held or he wants a hug or something.
Zeta on the ground. Get down there. So we're
like, you can't just tell everyone what, like,
yeah, you can't just do that. It's your world.
We're just living in it, buddy. Yeah. So, but
it's super sweet. Cute. Well, thanks for tuning
in, guys. Hopefully you had a great holiday.
Hopefully you had some memorable moments. Hopefully
you didn't get hit with the flu. Yeah, less vomit
than you guys. Yeah. But we'd love to hear how
your Christmas was, how, yeah, how the stimulation
levels were. Yeah. Yeah. But let us know what
you think. Rate, subscribe, follow us on Instagram
at nomanualpodcast. But we'll see you next week.
We'll see you next week. Well, that's enough
oversharing for today. If you enjoyed hanging
out with us, hit subscribe so you don't miss
the next round of chaos. And if you're listening
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no judgment, we see you. Thanks for joining us
on No Manual Momcast, where motherhood is messy.
At least we can laugh about it together. Thank
you.